TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — A tense back-and-forth match was ultimately won by Florida State Volleyball on Sunday as it defeated Syracuse, 3-2 (25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 24-26, 15-11), at Tully Gym in a contest that lasted nearly three hours.
The Seminoles (16-5, 9-3) finish the month of October with an 8-2 record as they head into the critical month of November. Freshman outside hitter Audrey Koenig blasted a career-high 18 kills, including some big points down the stretch, and finished with a .298 hitting percentage.
The Orange (15-9, 4-8) had all the momentum as it forced a decisive fifth set after being down 2-0, riding the play of Marina Markova and her 33 kills. In the final frame, FSU jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Syracuse came right back with a 6-0 run to force an FSU timeout.
Syracuse later padded its lead to 9-5 on an FSU attack error, but the Seminoles managed to go on a 4-0 run as junior Emma Clothier recorded two huge kills during that stretch to knot the fifth set at 9-9.
That is when Koenig continued to be the game changer. A kill by Syracuse’s Markova made it 10-9 Orange, but Koenig terminated three of the next four rallies to help the Seminoles to a 12-11 advantage.
FSU finished the match on a 4-0 run: Koenig and freshman Khori Louis recorded a block on Markova, followed by a kill from Sydney Conley to force match point at 14-11. An attack error by Syracuse’s Polina Shemanova ended the exhausting match.
Five Seminoles finished in double-digit kills, as Clothier got hotter as the match went on and ended with 15 kills against a Syracuse team that was strong defensively. Conley also delivered a career-best 15 kills and hit .314 in the match, a consistent force throughout the entire contest.
Louis added 13 kills for FSU and Morgan Chacon had 10 kills and 20 digs, helping fend off a difficult Syracuse attack.
Freshman libero Emery Dupes totaled 22 digs in the match, while Lauryn Burrows and Caroline Golden were each vital with nine apiece.
Redshirt junior setter Lily Tessier totaled a career-high 60 assists along with 15 digs against the Orange.
Florida State returns with an away weekend, beginning at Clemson at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 5, on ACC Network Extra. FSU then faces No. 14 Georgia Tech on Sunday at 3 p.m. on Bally Sports.
